Paid sick leave laws have been in the news with cities and states devising their own laws that could impact contingent workforce operations — including adding extra costs for the leave and administrative burdens.
The National Law Review reported six jurisdictions will have paid sick leave laws — or laws that mandate how sick leave can be used — going into effect on July 1 [1]. And it’s likely the trend of paid-sick leave laws will continue; there are currently 39 such laws in existence in the US, according to a report by Staffing Industry Analysts [2], which publishes this newsletter.
Chicago’s law [3] requiring paid sick leave is one of those taking effect July 1. The city estimated it would lead to less than a 0.7% to 1.5% increase in labor costs for most employers, and it allows workers to accrue up to five earned sick days in a year. The state of Arizona also has a law requiring [4] paid sick leave coming into effect on July 1 that would require as many as 40 hours of paid sick leave, AZcentral.com reports.
Washington state voters [5] also approved a paid sick leave law, but it will go into effect Jan. 1. Washington’s law lets workers accrue sick leave at the rate of one hour per every 40 hours worked, according to law firm Littler Mendelson.
As states and cities add paid sick leave laws, many staffing buyers have grown to expect the added costs, said Bryan Peña, senior VP of contingent workforce strategies at Staffing Industry Analysts. “It’s not entirely new,” Peña said. “It’s certainly becoming much more of an expected expense.”
When it comes to extra costs, staffing firms can add expected costs on top of wages or charge buyers as paid sick leave costs are accrued.
A former staffing executive shared some advice on handling paid sick leave in this Staffing Stream post [6].
Push-Back
Paid sick leave laws have encountered some resistance. Just last month, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed a paid sick leave law [7], saying it was a job killer. However, while the governor’s veto stalled the bill for now, the Maryland Legislature is likely to override that veto, JD Supra reported.
Nevada’s governor also vetoed a paid sick leave bill on June 1. Interestingly, Gov. Brian Sandoval said paid sick leave could increase the use of temporary employees. In a letter to the Legislature [8] discussing reasons some businesses oppose paid sick leave, Sandoval wrote “some indicated that the unintended consequences of this bill would be reduced hours, fewer employees, more temporary employees and higher administrative costs.”